Beating noise with abstention in state estimation

We address the problem of estimating pure qubit states with non-ideal (noisy) measurements in the multiple-copy scenario, where the data consists of a number N of identically prepared qubits. We show that the average fidelity of the estimates can increase significantly if the estimation protocol allows for inconclusive answers, or abstentions. We present the optimal such protocol and compute its fidelity for a given probability of abstention. The improvement over standard estimation, without abstention, can be viewed as an effective noise reduction. These and other results are exemplified for small values of N. For asymptotically large N, we derive analytical expressions of the fidelity and the probability of abstention, and show that for a fixed fidelity gain the latter decreases with N at an exponential rate given by a Kulback-Leibler (relative) entropy. As a byproduct, we obtain an asymptotic expression in terms of this very entropy of the probability that a system of N qubits, all prepared in the same state, has a given total angular momentum. We also discuss an extreme situation where noise increases with N and where estimation with abstention provides a most significant improvement as compared to the standard approach

Carga y diversidad microbiana en aire ambiente de sectores de la región del Gran La Plata

Se evaluó la concentración y diversidad de bioaerosoles (hongos y bacterias cultivables) en aire ambiente de la región del Gran La Plata, Provincia de Buenos Aires. Se extrajeron muestras en dos períodos estacionales (invierno y primavera 2005) diferenciando sectores urbanos, industriales, residenciales y rurales en un área aproximada de 25 km2. Los muestreos se realizaron utilizando un método de captación forzada sobre medios selectivos para poblaciones bacterianas oligotróficas y hongos heterótrofos. La caracterización de hongos se realizó mediante observación microscópica hasta nivel de género. Las poblaciones bacterianas se analizaron por extracción de DNA y posterior amplificación del fragmento 16S rDNA mediante la reacción PCR con los iniciadores 341f y 907r. Utilizando la técnica de DGGE se obtuvo el perfil de bandas correspondiente a las poblaciones predominantes de cada sector, luego analizadas mediante taxonomía numérica. Los resultados mostraron un predominio en la concentración de bacterias respecto a hongos, sin evidenciar significativas diferencias entre los sectores seleccionados. Los hongos evidenciaron un predominio estacional (primavera), con prevalencia de Cladosporium sp. En total fueron determinados 18 géneros fúngicos. Se observó elevada diversidad poblacional bacteriana en cada sector estudiado. Se destaca la importancia que reviste la caracterización de bioaerosoles en la zona, tanto por la contribución al conocimiento sobre el diagnóstico de la calidad de aire en la zona, como por las implicancias que reviste sobre la salud ambiental

Rights Myopia in Child Welfare

For decades, legal scholars have debated the proper balance of parents\u27 rights and children\u27s rights in the child welfare system. This Article argues that the debate mistakenly privileges rights. Neither parents\u27 rights nor children\u27s rights serve families well because, as implemented, a solely rights-based model of child welfare does not protect the interests of parents or children. Additionally, even if well-implemented, the model still would not serve parents or children because it obscures the important role of poverty in child abuse and neglect and fosters conflict rather than collaboration between the state and families. In lieu of a solely rights-based model, this Article proposes a problem-solving model for child welfare and explores one embodiment of such a model, family group conferencing. This Article concludes that a problem-solving model holds significant potential to address many of the profound theoretical and practical shortcomings of the current child welfare system

Alien Registration- Ronco, Katherine T. (Dover-Foxcroft, Piscataquis County)

https://digitalmaine.com/alien_docs/10202/thumbnail.jp

Asphodelus fistulosus L. (Liliaceae) subespontáneo en la Argentina (nota breve)

p.113-11

Media representation of regulated incivilities: Relevant actors, problems, solutions and the role played by experts in the Flemish press

This article analyses the representations of regulated nuisance in a section of Flemish newspapers over time. It identifies the groups of people who have been successful in conveying messages in and through Flemish press news, and explores the way they have represented problems of, and suggested solutions to, regulated incivilities over the years. Furthermore, against the backdrop of newsmaking criminology, it considers whether and how crime and justice experts have contributed to shaping the Flemish media discourse on regulated incivilities over time. Overall the analysis of press news has found that the press, by giving coverage to the voices of local institutional actors, has promoted the criminalization of nuisance and, especially, of physical incivilities. The views of criminological experts, by contrast, have remained marginal. The article concludes by suggesting how such findings present a new set of empirical and conceptual challenges for newsmaking criminology, and more generally, for public criminology

Rationale for Medium Cutoff Membranes in COVID-19 Patients Requiring Renal Replacement Therapy

The current pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) spotlighted the vulnerability of patients with chronic kidney disease stage 5 on maintenance hemodialysis (HD) to the viral infection. Social distancing is the most effective preventive measure to reduce the risk of infection. Nonetheless, the necessity to frequently reach the dialysis center and the inherent social gathering both impede social distancing and also self-quarantine for infected individuals. A baseline hyperinflammatory state driven by factors such as the retention of uremic toxins afflicts these patients. Concomitantly, a condition of relative immunosuppression is also attributed to similar factors. The use of high-flux (HF) dialyzers for HD is the standard of care. However, with HF membranes, the removal of large middle molecules is scant. Medium cutoff (MCO) dialyzers are a new class of membranes that allow substantial removal of large middle molecules with negligible albumin losses. Recent trials confirmed long-term safety and long-term sustained reduction in the concentration of large uremic toxins with MCO dialyzers. Herein, we discuss the rationale for applying MCO membranes in COVID-19 patients and its possible immunoadjuvant effects that could mitigate the burden of COVID-19 infection in dialysis patients. We also discuss the direct cytopathic effect of the virus on renal tissue and extracorporeal blood purification techniques that can prevent kidney damage or reduce acute kidney injury progression

Acute kidney disease and renal recovery : consensus report of the Acute Disease Quality Initiative (ADQI) 16 Workgroup

Consensus definitions have been reached for both acute kidney injury (AKI) and chronic kidney disease (CKD) and these definitions are now routinely used in research and clinical practice. The KDIGO guideline defines AKI as an abrupt decrease in kidney function occurring over 7 days or less, whereas CKD is defined by the persistence of kidney disease for a period of > 90 days. AKI and CKD are increasingly recognized as related entities and in some instances probably represent a continuum of the disease process. For patients in whom pathophysiologic processes are ongoing, the term acute kidney disease (AKD) has been proposed to define the course of disease after AKI; however, definitions of AKD and strategies for the management of patients with AKD are not currently available. In this consensus statement, the Acute Disease Quality Initiative (ADQI) proposes definitions, staging criteria for AKD, and strategies for the management of affected patients. We also make recommendations for areas of future research, which aim to improve understanding of the underlying processes and improve outcomes for patients with AKD

Intermittent control models of human standing: similarities and differences

Two architectures of intermittent control are compared and contrasted in the context of the single inverted pendulum model often used for describing standing in humans. The architectures are similar insofar as they use periods of open-loop control punctuated by switching events when crossing a switching surface to keep the system state trajectories close to trajectories leading to equilibrium. The architectures differ in two significant ways. Firstly, in one case, the open-loop control trajectory is generated by a system-matched hold, and in the other case, the open-loop control signal is zero. Secondly, prediction is used in one case but not the other. The former difference is examined in this paper. The zero control alternative leads to periodic oscillations associated with limit cycles; whereas the system-matched control alternative gives trajectories (including homoclinic orbits) which contain the equilibrium point and do not have oscillatory behaviour. Despite this difference in behaviour, it is further shown that behaviour can appear similar when either the system is perturbed by additive noise or the system-matched trajectory generation is perturbed. The purpose of the research is to come to a common approach for understanding the theoretical properties of the two alternatives with the twin aims of choosing which provides the best explanation of current experimental data (which may not, by itself, distinguish beween the two alternatives) and suggesting future experiments to distinguish between the two alternatives